The Life and Times of JUANITO XTRAVAGANZA

Abstract

The following interviews were conducted at multiple sessions in the City of New York during the years 1994–1996. Some of the names of the people that appear in them have been omitted, in order to protect the not-so-innocent; others have been retained, as they belong to the public domain. These interviews have been edited and their order modified to conform to the spirit of Juan Rivera’s involved storytelling, of his always detouring voice, as is explained in the editor’s introductory comments, “Listening Speaks (II).” Supplemental information on the people, the places, and the terms referred to in them has been added in chapter five “What’s in a Name.” Notes on Spanish-English, or Spanglish, code-switching have been provided as glosses to Rivera’s creative bilingualism. And references have been supplied for the curious reader, who might want to follow up on the story’s many bifurcating leads.

Mi voz puede volar … (My voice can also fly…)

—Celia Cruz, Yo Viviré (I Will Survive)